Monday, January 28, 2013

Are
you tired of your dead looking winter landscape? Wish you had something more
than leafless trees and shrubs to look out at? Are you longing for the green
foliage of spring and summer? If you want something more than Trees That Please Nursery can
help!

Trees
That Please Nursery propagates evergreen trees and shrubs that can add color
and winter interest to your home or business landscape. All of the following
photos were taken during winter on January 28, 2013 in Los Lunas, NM.

Gray
Oakis
a native evergreen oak that retains its gray-green foliage through winter,

as
a close-up of its foliage reveals. Leaves will sometimes turn brown during the
coldest winters.

New Mexico Live Oakis another native
evergreen oak that is green through most winters.

Leaves
remain green or may have some browning during late winter.

Turbinella
Oak(native) is also evergreen (blue-green) through
winter as seen in these specimens pruned into shrubs.

Leaves
retain their color into the cold of January. As a smaller tree or shrub
Turbinella Oak may be useful as a visual
barrier for those with allergies to Juniper and Cypress.

We
also stock a nice selection of Pines including the Afghan Desert Pine

The
Italian Stone Pine,

and
the Austrian Black Pine.

We
also carry Junipers, like the Blue Rug Juniper with foliage that gains a
purplish color during winter,

and
Arborvitae.

Come
by the nursery during the winter and take home some color for your landscape.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

There
is always something to do at the nursery. This week we did property clean-up which
included picking weeds. Nobody enjoys picking weeds but we do enjoy a nice warm
fire in winter. The weeds were picked and piled in anticipation. We called the local
fire marshal first to confirm it was a burn day and it was. Then we gathered
our shovels and water hoses just in case. We gathered around the weeds we had
piled and the fire was started.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

How many of us put off our landscape planting needs until the growing
season resumes with warmer spring temperatures? How many of us think we cannot
plant in winter? How many of us think winter is a bad time to plant?

You don’t need to wait for spring to plant! Winter is actually an ideal
time for planting because there is no water stress on newly planted trees and
shrubs. Sometimes when we plant a containerized tree or shrub during the
growing season we may inadvertently damage some roots as we remove it from its
pot. During the growing season plants are actively pulling water in through
their roots. If roots are damaged during planting your tree or shrub may wilt.
A tree or shrub with damaged roots may take some time to recover and may look “wilted”
for a couple days.As long as you keep
the soil well watered it generally recovers in a couple days.

Planting a dormant tree or shrub during winter avoids this water stress
issue. If roots are damaged during winter planting your tree or shrub won’t
wilt. Plus when growth resumes in spring
your plant will begin growth in place based upon its functional root mass with
no further disturbances. Cold temperatures or frost will not harm your dormant
tree or shrub.

As long as your soil is not
frozen, you can plant!

Dig the hole to accommodate the root dimensions, place
your tree or shrub in this hole, replace the native soil (just removed) using
no amendments, cover with mulch, then water thoroughly to settle the soil
around the roots.